Electric brake mechanism



(No Model.)

LVANDBRBEGK. ELECTRIC BRAKE MECHANISM.

' Patented Apr. 5, 1898.

' 1982 10? Ends/590% NITED STATES PATENT Fries.

ELECTRIC \BRAKE MECHANISM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 601,992, dated April 5,1898.

Application filed September 13, 1897. Serial No. 651,529- (No model.) 7

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXIS VANDERBECK, a citizen of the United States,residing at Scammon, in the county of Cherokee and State of Kansas, haveinvented a new and useful Electric Brake Mechanism, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to electric brake mechanism for railway-cars; andthe object in view is to provide a simple and efficient construction andarrangement of parts whereby with an electric current of comparativelylow volt age the brakes may be operated with sufficient force toaccomplish the desired object under the various conditions of railwaytraffic.

In carrying out myinvention I have aimed to utilize not onlytheattractive force of the unlike poles of two magnets, but thecooperating repellent force of the like poles, the parts being soarranged that the attractive force of unlike poles is assisted by therepellent force of like poles.

Further objects andadvantages of this invention will appear in thefollowing description, and the novel features thereof will beparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure l is adiagrammatic plan view of a brakemechanism and connected operating devices constructed in accord ancewith my invention. Fig.2 is a detail View in perspective of'thebrake-operating devices detached. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section ofthe same.

Similar numerals of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all thefigures of the'drawings.

Referring to Fig. 1, the main brake-lever 1, which may be of theordinary or any preferred type, is connected by brake-rods 2 withauxiliarylevers 3,which in turn have connection with the brake-bars 4 bymeans of links 5. It will be understood that movement of the free end ofthe brake-lever inthe direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1 willset the brakes by moving the brake-bars toward the wheels of thecar-trucks,and hence bringing the brake-shoes into contact with saidwheels, and in order to accomplish this movement of the free end of thebrake-lever I employ brake-operating devices which constitute thesubject-matter of my invention, as hereinafter disclosed.

electric current of .high voltage I'preferably polarize the plunger insuch a manner that the enlargement'or head constitutes a pole which ismagnetically unlike the contiguous pole of the main electromagnet. Toaccomplish this,'I employ an auxiliary electromagne t 10,of which theplunger constitutes an axially-movable core, the. wrapping of thisauxiliary magnet being continuous with that of the main magnet orconsisting of the wire 7, the Wrapping upon the two magnets being in thesame direction,whereby when the magnets are arranged in alinementtheircontiguous poles are unlike. Thus-the contiguous extremities of thefixed core of the main magnet and the movable core of the auxiliary.

magnet will be mutually attractive, both magnets being arranged in acommon electrical current.

I have foundit expedient, however, to'still further increase theforceiapplied to the movable core of the" auxiliarymagnet by providingthe main electromagnet with a polar extension 11, forming an unwound legwhich terminates between the attractive poles of the main'and auxiliarymagnets and on the opposite side of the enlargement or head of themovable core 8 from the pole of the mainmagnet.. Obviously this extendedpole of the main magnet will be magnetically unlike that pole of themain magnet which is designed to attract the movable core 8, and hencewill be magnetically like the contiguous end of said core. Hence saidextended pole will repel the enlargement or head of the movable core 8simultaneously-with the attraction of said enlargement or head'by thewound leg of the main magnet. The main magnet, therefore, is constructedsubstantially to form what is known in the art as a club-foot magnet,the extremities of its legs being spaced apart, while the plunger, whichis designed to actuate the brake-lever, is disposed between saidextremities of the magnet-legs and is polarized to cause it to berepelled by one leg and attracted by the other.

In the construction illustrated the unwound leg or extension of the mainmagnet is terminally bifurcated, as shown at 12, to allow the movablecore of the auxiliary magnet to pass therethrough without contact, andin order to prevent the head or enlargement of the said movable corefrom coming in contact with the unwound leg or extension of the mainmagnet when the device is thrown out of circuit I preferably employ astop, which, in the construction illustrated, consists of a pin 13. (SeeFig. 1.)

It is obvious that the device as above described is susceptible ofnumerous modifications in the matter of details; but in practice I havefound it desirable in constructing the auxiliary magnet to. fitcentrally-perforated plugs 14 inthe extremities of the spool or cylinderupon which the winding is arranged, said plugs being permanently screwedto place to prevent disarrangement by jarring and being designed tomaintain the plunger or movable core accurately in an axial position.Obviously the auxiliary magnet is of the bar type, its remote pole notbeing utilized in the construction illustrated; also, the body portionof the main magnet is of the bar type, and it is preferably constructedof a round soft-metal core 15, fitted within the spool or cylinder uponwhich the Wire winding is placed, said core being firmly secured againstmovement by any suitable means. The extension or leg 11 is secured byscrews, or equivalent means, to the remove end of the core of the mainmagnet.

The spools which I prefer to use in connection with the magnets of mybrake mechanism preferably have their terminal flanges or collars 16threaded upon the barrels 17, and thereby secured against displacementby jarring, said construction being illustrated in Fig. 3. The core 15of the main magnet is of soft metal, as also is the plunger whichoperates in the smaller magnet for communieating motion to the brakemechanism, and the plugs 14, in which the plunger operates, arepreferably of brass or an equivalent metal. The relative strengths ofthe main and auxiliary magnets should be approximately in the ratio ofthree to one, the additional strength of the main magnet being attainedby multiplying the coils of wire on the spool thereof.

It will be understood that While in the description I have referred tothe mechanism embodying my invention as being particularly applicable tobrakes for railway-cars and the like the same is also applicable toother forms of machinery which it may be required to have under suchcontrol as to i restored to without departing from the spirit orsacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim is 1. An electricbrake-operating device, havin g fixed electromagnets, and amovableplunger operating axially through one electromagnet, with itsextremities permanently located beyond the ends thereof, for attractionby the other, and adapted to be operatively connected with brakemechanism, substantially as specified.

2. An electric brake-operating device having fixed main and auxiliaryelectromagnets, of relatively different strengths, arranged inalinement, and connected in series, and a movable plunger operatingaxially through the auxiliary electromagnet, and terminally disposed forattraction by the main electromagnet, the extremities of said plungerbeing permanently located beyond the ends of the auxiliaryelectromagnet, and one of them being adapted for connection with a brakemechanism, substantially as specified.

3. An electric brake-operatin g device, having a magnet provided withcontiguous spaced poles, and a polarized plunger terminally disposedbetween the poles of said magnet and adapted to be operatively connectedwith the moving parts of a brake mechanism, substantially as specified.

.4. An electric brake-operatin g device, having a club-footelectromagnet constructed with the extremity of its unwound legcontiguous to and in alinement with the wound leg, and a polarizedplunger terminally disposed between the poles of said magnet forrelative attraction and repulsion thereby, and adapted to be operativelyconnected with the moving parts'of a brake mechanism, substantially asspecified.

5. An electric brake-operating device having a main club-footelectromagnet provided with a terminally-bifurcated bare leg arrangedcontiguous to and in alinement with its wound leg, and an auxiliaryelectromagnet axially alined with the wound leg of the main magnet, andhaving an axially-movable core terminally arranged between the poles ofthe main magnet and permanently out of contact with the like pole,substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ALEXIS VANDERB'ECK.

Witnesses:

JOHN MoR'roN, JOHN G. MCLAUGHLIN.

